Because She Bit Her Lip
by TeacupOctopusTopHat
Summary: The house is quiet. Tohru and Kyo are alone for the night. While Tohru is deciding on what to make for dinner, Kyo has other things on his mind. Kyoru (KyoxTohru) Oneshot - Post Manga/Anime. Spoilers for the end of the series!


Author's Note

_** *NOTE* **_This contains spoilers for the end of the manga/anime. Please proceed with caution!

Welcome to the first fanfic of my adult life. I haven't written a fanfic since 2012, so I'm a little rusty. Please regard me kindly! Since the anime reboot has come out, I've been very much getting into Fruits Basket again. I've also reread the manga books recently, enjoying it from a new, more mature perspective. (agh, I'm making myself sound so old!) But man, it still holds up so well and gives me all the FEELS. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my little drabble!

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That damn dog was finally out of the house. Not that he was really the dog anymore. And come to think of it, he was going out more often than he used to. Seems the curse had actually hindered the elusive novelist to some degree, though no one would've expected that. So the house was quiet, with the exception of floorboards creaking as a particularly strong wind blew. There was a sliding of a bedroom door and the padding of feet on the stairs. Kyo opened the light in the kitchen, his hand running through his recently showered hair. It was dusk; he had just come back from training at Kazuma's dojo. He assumed Shigure was going to be out for the night with the rest of the Mabudachi trio.

Yuki, on the other hand, was staying late after school. The student council folk tended to have dinner and drinks more often since the end of the school year was approaching. If Kyo was lucky, Yuki might stay over Machi's apartment again if they were out too late. Yuki had been doing that much more frequently as well. The damn rat must've caught himself a crush. Kyo didn't mind though that Yuki was out of the house, even though recently their relationship had gotten much more palatable. They certainly weren't friends. Not now, at least. But they tolerated each other. It wasn't uncomfortable either; maybe an odd friendship was possible in the future. Ever since the curse had broken, a lot had changed, the tension between Kyo and Yuki included.

Kyo turned on the faucet and stuck a glass underneath the stream of water. He leaned his back against the counter and drank, his mind buzzing with thoughts. He'd been thinking a lot about his future now that it lay in front of him so freely. Almost overwhelmingly so. The future that had been written for him since the day he was born was now completely unscripted. He could do whatever he wanted. And that was scary. With his life so open now, opportunities seemed endless, each more tantalizing and exciting than the one before. But how could he decide? What did he want? As for a career after high school, he supposed he could have his own dojo someday. He had always been passionate about martial arts, and he could be pretty motivated to stick with it, as he'd proved these past couple years of training. So that was a possible path he could take, almost a certain one with his adopted father's help. That kind of certainty was something he looked forward to rather than dreaded. Looking forward to the future was very new to him and he didn't quite know how to navigate those feelings yet. But other than that, what else did he really want?

As he finished his glass, he heard a click of a key in the front door. He looked up and found the answer to his question. "I'm home," Tohru said brightly as she stepped through the doorway, her face lighting up as her gaze met Kyo's.

His eyes softened and he smiled warmly at her. "Welcome home," he said. "How was work?" He went over to her and grabbed her bag from her shoulder as she slipped her shoes off.

"It was fine," she said." Momiji-kun helped me out again today. He's gotten so tall he could scrub the top panes of the windows. I'd say he's almost as tall as you now, Kyo-Kun!"

"About time," Kyo said. "He couldn't stay a runt forever. So I'm guessin' the girls' uniform doesn't suit him anymore?"

She giggled, remembering a time when Momiji looked cuter in the girls' rather than the boys' school uniform. "Perhaps not. He's grown quite handsome too. The girls in his class practically have their own Prince Momiji fan club."

"Is that right?" Kyo smirked. "More handsome than me?"

Tohru blushed and spluttered, "Oh! Ah, you're both very handsome and it would be rude to pick who is more handsome, especially since you and I, well, you know. So I, of course, am a bit partial and Momiji-kun is just my friend but I do think other girls would find him very attractive and-"

Kyo knocked her gently on the head with his fist to end her flustered tirade. "Tohru, I'm just teasing."

She relaxed with a goofy little grin, exhaling in relief. Placing her hands together over her chest, she said, "But you are very handsome, Kyo-kun. It makes my heart beat uncontrollably."

Kyo squirmed from the compliment, a blush to match hers appearing across his cheeks. "You dope..." was all he could muster at that. She smiled up at him and he coughed to regain his composure. "I, uh, didn't think he'd follow in the damn rat's footsteps. You know, with having a fan club and crap" He said, changing the subject to something he could handle. He placed her bag down by the stairway and went back into the kitchen.

Tohru followed him through the threshold and laughed, "I don't think he minds their affection as much as Yuki-kun does. Although, it's been nice that he's been getting along with his student council friends. I hope we get to meet Machi again soon." She opened the fridge to prepare dinner.

Kyo raised a hand to scratch the back of his head. "Ah, speaking of that, Yuki went out with them after school and Shigure left about an hour ago. So it's just you and me tonight."

Tohru paused and nodded, "Then I guess I shouldn't make a large meal." She closed the fridge door and put her fingers to her chin in thought. Kyo felt something bloom in the pit of his stomach. She looked so damn cute just then. She stood there pensively and he couldn't help but stare; his eyes simply set on how her delicate fingers framed her rosy lips. Suddenly, she bit her lip in thought and Kyo felt a burst of warmth erupt within him. He realized a moment later she had said something, but the blood rushing to his ears had prevented him from hearing her.

He shook his head slightly and blinked. "Huh?"

Tohru blinked back at him. "Hm?"

"S-sorry. What did you say?" He stammered, running his fingers through his orange hair again nervously.

"Ah. I just asked what you would like for dinner, since it's just the two of us?" She smiled and tilted her head to the side.

Kyo tried to keep it together, but he couldn't think of anything else to say. He could feel how hot his cheeks were getting, damnit. It was just the two of them. Just him and Tohru. Alone. He didn't know why it was hitting him so abruptly at that moment. They were actually alone a lot more now since the curse was broken. Since the day he knelt in front of her and told her he loved her. And the day she told him their love made them invincible. They still had their awkward moments but mostly because of their individual shyness and inexperience at this sort of thing. Sometimes, they forgot they were even dating because they were just used to being together having lived under the same roof for a few years. But at these rare times of stepping back and realizing their love for one another was mutual, that all of this was real, that they could hug each other because they wanted to without anything in their way, well, it took a bit of internal convincing to accept it.

In the past, Kyo admired Tohru's beauty from afar. She really was the most beautiful being he'd ever known, inside and out. His thoughts had been fleeting since he didn't know how she felt about him and he didn't believe he even deserved to hope she might return his feelings. But as of recently he'd been able to dwell on those thoughts much longer and at his leisure. Not only that, he had begun to think of her in other ways, ways that terrified but also excited him. Ways in which he wanted her. So deeply wanted her.

He'd stop sometimes, yelling at himself for thinking such perverted thoughts. But then he'd think, was it really that bad? Did he have to stop himself? She said she loved him, so it wasn't a one sided feeling. And now that he could hold her whenever he wanted; they truly could move forward now.

The silence between them hung in the air, almost tangible. Tohru started to panic a little. "Kyo-kun, are you feeling well?" Worry plain across her features, she stepped closer to him and rested her hand on his forearm. He felt goose bumps prickle his skin when she touched him. "What's wrong?"

He looked down at her and swallowed hard. "Nothing. I'm fine. I was uh, just thinking."

As she stared at him, waiting to see if he was going to say anything further, a small blush spread across her cheeks. He noticed this and his thought spiral derailed. With his other hand, he brushed some stray hair out of her eyes, his fingers tracing her temple, having them cup the hair behind her ear and linger at her jaw. She sucked in a short breath as he let his thumb softly graze her cheek.

"What-" she said breathlessly. "What were you thinking about?" Her eyes fell to his lips for a brief moment and Kyo felt his chest fill with passion. He bent his head and met her lips with his own. It was gentle at first, but when she reciprocated the kiss and took a step closer to him, something inside him caught fire. He breathed in deeply and kissed her with more vigor. Tohru wrapped one arm over his shoulder and placed her other hand at the nape of his neck. Her fingertips trailed downward which sent shivers down his spine. A bit daring, he opened his mouth and traced his tongue across her lips. Now it was her turn to shiver. As she did so, Kyo's hand found her waist and he pulled her close so her body pressed up against his. She jumped a little in surprise and he broke the kiss. He felt his face burning and removed his arm from around her, suddenly extremely self conscious.

"S-sorry. I'm... I didn't mean to force you or anything. I..."

"N-no! Kyo-kun, it's okay!" Tohru's face was also very red. Her hands waved in front of her. "I-I just wasn't expecting **that**."

He knew she was referring to down there. He couldn't really help it, but she had certainly felt his uh, _passion_ and that made him embarrassed as hell. He was about to apologize again, when Tohru said, "I'm perfectly okay. It just surprised me. But uhm, I... I wouldn't mind at all."

He stared at her, dumbfounded. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? "Tohru." He said roughly. Why was his throat so dry? "Do you wanna take this upstairs?"

She nodded.

"...Do you know what I really mean by that?"

She paused. Kyo couldn't tell if she was hesitating or if she really didn't know what he was referring to. They stared at each other, stock still, for a good long minute. And from both his frazzled nerves and the absolutely adorable look on Tohru's flustered face, Kyo let out a laugh. Tohru blinked helplessly as he shook with amusement. It was contagious, because she broke out into laughter too. They laughed together for a bit, holding each other, forgetting the world around them completely.

Kyo took a breath and said, "God, I love you."

He was still smiling and Tohru pressed herself closer to him and said, "I love you too. That would make me...very happy."

The embers in Kyo's eyes rekindled. He caught Tohru in a chaste kiss, which she readily returned. He took her hand in his and led her to the stairs. He took one step up, and turned to look at her. "We can go slow. And if anything hurts or you don't like it, you tell me and we'll stop, okay?"

Tohru was still pink faced when she nodded, "Yes!" And they started up the stairway to their bedrooms. "Ah, Kyo-kun...I have very little experience, but I will try my best. Please take care of me, Kyo-kun!" She bowed her head and he chuckled.

"I dunno, it's not like I really know what I'm doing either. I could really suck at it."

"Eh?? I don't think that'd be the case at all!"

"It could be. If that's the case, I'd just need more training."

"Kyo-kun trains very diligently!"

"Yea. And Tohru is a very hard worker. I've got faith that we'll be fine."

"As long as we're together."

"Always."

\--

I had every intention of making this a lemon. That's one way to start an author's note, isn't it? Well, I read online that Natsuki Takaya, the mangaka, canonically confirmed that Tohru and Kyo did, in fact, make love before they moved away at the end of the manga. So, yea, probably in Shigure's house. It's also alluded to in the 3rd chapter of the Mabudachi Trio's Special Story. And Kyo and Tohru are so adorable and awkward, I wanted to figure out how the heck they even started doing it! So I imagined it like this. Like I said, my intention was to set up the story and then really follow through. But the characters took me where they wanted me to explore and I'm happy with it. Maybe we really don't need to know the details of that part of the relationship. Like Takaya-sensei did, maybe we let Kyo and Tohru have their privacy in that regard.


End file.
